PROJECT NEUTRAL

Transitioning neighbourhoods to carbon neutrality. One neighbourhood at a time.

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HOUSEHOLD REPORTS
Goal: To inform households about their carbon footprint and motivate them to reduce that footprint

Goal of this talk: To explain the reports and answer questions concerning the reports

NOT THE FOCUS OF MY TALK

Future Monthly Workshops: Help individuals and households and the community take action to reduce their footprint

Neighbourhood Summit in June: Help to develop strategies at the neighbourhood level for reducing the carbon footprint

THE REPORT TEAM

I constructed the report, but many others are involved: Initial analysis and first draft: Ashley Smith

Methodology: Dave Bristow and Kevin Tse

Design: Cassandra Alves Everything else: Project Neutral staff and neighbourhood volunteers

OVERVIEW
The Survey Average Carbon Footprint for the Junction Tips Footprint breakdown by category Comparisons What we have learned Thanks and Questions

BACKGROUND: THE SURVEY

Asked questions about household energy, transportation, water and food, and tree coverage

Completed by over 120 households

Gives us a baseline to work against Was challenging to complete it'll be better next year

SURVEY MAP

YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

Average footprint per household for the Junction: 17.5 tonnes CO2e

TIPS
Reports contain tips tailored to each household Some tips are easier than others

Some are cheap, some expensive

Tips are only the beginning workshops will go in depth

HOUSEHOLD ENERGY
Electricity, natural gas and oil Includes water heating Junction average: 5.8 t CO2eq, 33% of footprint

HOUSEHOLD ENERGY TIPS

Upgrade insulation Seal air leaks Use a renewable energy supplier (additional expense approximately $1/day)

TRANSPORTATION
Personal vehicles, flights and public transport Considered type of vehicle, length of flights, mode of public transport Junction average: 11.5 t CO2e, or 66% of footprint

Biggest potential for savings

TRANSPORTATION TIPS
Reduce driving Reduce flights and/or offset carbon If you need a new car, consider a hybrid Substitute with more public transit use

WATER
Transportation of your water, not heating We may incorporate water heating into this category next time

Junction average: 0.1 t CO2e, < 1%

WATER TIPS
Install a high efficiency water heater Reduce water usage by 15%. Some of: shorter showers, low flow faucets and showerheads, upgrade to efficient washing machines and/or dishwasher

HIGH IMPACT FOOD

Home groceries only Butter, milk, beef, seafood, poultry and pork High carbon because of feed, chemical fertilizer, gas, pesticides and water usage associated with production

HIGH IMPACT FOOD TIPS

Source: Environmental Working Group, http://www.ewg.org/

COMPARISONS
Saying your carbon footprint is 16 tonnes per year is hard to put into context Comparisons to your neighbours, households in Toronto, Canadians, gives more context Visual imagery helps too: black balloons

BLACK BALLOONS
Your footprint is equivalent to filling 1000000 balloons with CO2 in one year, or about 1.9 balloons per minute

Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZLD PEQzlck Reference: Alliance for Climate Protection

NEIGHBOURS

RIVERDALE
Per capita vs Per household comparison
Average Household Footprint in CO2e

Average Footprint per person in CO2e

TORONTO

TORONTO vs PN
Average Footprint Per Person without Flights, Water or Food

CANADA
Canada is a diverse country No computed Canadian average applies Many include industrial emissions: e.g. 24 tonnes CO2e per year (Environment Canada's inventory divided by Canadian population)

CARBON OFFSETS
Trees sequester about 1 tonne of CO2 in lifetime Buying offsets: many organizations to choose from Workshop on offsets Idea: getting carbon offsets by contributing to neighbourhood projects in the Junction

WHAT WE LEARNED
Survey needs to be shorter, clearer, have more error checking Need to be able to get a new report if things change or were wrong Faster turn around time for the report, ideally real-time

Caveat: we do not have the capacity do make these changes right now

THANKS TO OUR COLLABORATORS

QUESTIONS!